nakakuguri　中潜

KEY WORD :　architecture / tea houses

Lit. middle wicket. Also pronounced uchisomi. It is sometimes called kuguri 潜. A type of middle gate *chuumon 中門 used to divide an outer tea garden *sotoroji 外露地 from an inner tea garden *uchiroji 内露地. Several mid-Edo period sources associate the nakakuguri with the tea master Furuta Oribe 古田織部 (1544-1615) who supposedly first used this type of gate at his residence in Fushimi 伏見, Kyoto. The nakakuguri is constructed by making a partitioning wall or fence, the posts of which are partially buried in the ground, and then attaching a small gable roof of boards or bamboo shingles. Within the wall is a window-like opening slightly larger than a crawl-in opening *nijiriguchi 躙口, through which the guests must pass to enter the inner garden. The opening is usually about 40 cm above the ground, with large trump stones *yaku-ishi 役石 on either side of it, upon which the guests stand as they pass -- straddling and stooping-- through the threshold. The nakakuguri opening contains tracks for a sliding wooden-board door, as well as a low latticed window *shitajimado 下地窓. The most representative nakakuguri is the one at Fushin'an 不審庵, Omotesenke 表千家 in Kyoto.

REFERENCES:

EXTERNAL LINKS:

NOTES:

(C)2001 Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.　No reproduction or republication without written permission. 掲載のテキスト・写真・イラストなど、全てのコンテンツの無断複製・転載を禁じます。